


The Hunt Is On

by CerberAsta



Series: Theros 2: Uncharted Realms [2]
Category: Magic: The Gathering (Card Game)
Genre: F/F, Hunting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:48:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22182073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CerberAsta/pseuds/CerberAsta
Summary: This is the tale of the Demigod, Renata, and how she caught the eye of her patron, Nylea.
Relationships: Nylea/Renata
Series: Theros 2: Uncharted Realms [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589761
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11





	The Hunt Is On

Renata

Long ago, well before even some of the youngest gods were born-- Renata’s mother had told her one thing that, above all else, still rang within her heart.

_End the hunt on your terms, or not at all._

In those days, the Pantheon was smaller. Phenax had not even been born yet, let alone entered into his journey to become a god. Mogis and Iroas were still only whispered rumors-- Renata had heard the tales of the Twins’ War, but they had yet to coalesce into anything more. Others were rumors only, if that.

Nylea was there, of course. Though Kruphix was the oldest of all, Nylea could not have been far behind. Although everyone was born to a world wrapped in mysteries, they eventually learned they had to eat. And until her younger sister came along with her lessons of harvest, eating meant _hunting _.__

Renata grew up on tales of the great Huntress who rained arrows down upon beast of every size and any man who dared to stop her. She was Swift-Footed, Silver-Armed, Keen-Eyed. None who hunted without her blessing survived the Nessian wilds for long.

Renata hunted there for weeks before Nylea approached her. She had been tracking a dreadful boar for days-- its tracks were not difficult to follow in and of themselves. The only real problem had been how viciously it had destroyed the terrain and uprooted so many trees in its frequent rampages. The hateful creature had chewed a manticore in half and left its corpse. Renata lost time collecting some of its blood, valuable for magic. So it was that when Renata finally tracked the boar down, it had tucked itself into a den.

"Feh,” Renata spat.

This was a moment any normal hunter might have given up. A boar in a den was a dangerous prospect. Luring it out made the beast aware of your presence long before you wanted it to know it was being hunted. That made you vulnerable. Going into the den, well… Then you were in its territory.

Renata could have ended the hunt then. Leaving such a prize would have been a blow, sure, but it would have been perfectly understandable not to go after such a creature. But those would have been the terms of a lesser hunter, not Renata’s.

She watched the boar from her perch some quarter mile away. It stumbled out and groused for some feed for a few minutes, then grumbled its way back into the meager cave. That might have been the point certain hunters took the shot, but Renata knew her plan. She covered herself in mud and waited as Heliod rode his chariot further down, further down. Her hill cast a long shadow which began to fade with dusk’s approach. That was when she struck.

Renata pulled on her bowstring and inhaled. She held her breath and the arrow and all of the world melted around her. Her vision tunnelled on the cave, focusing solely on the shifting shadows that pointed to where the boar lay. And… _go_.

_THWIP_

Just as the feather of her arrow cleared the bow, Renata dropped the instrument and took off after it. She pulled twin daggers from her belt and dashed across the jagged terrain like it was a flat track. Her steps were perfect, and she leaped like a bounding stag. The arrow caught her target before she did, but not by much. The boar scrambled to its feet and smashed into the wall of its den in the strange panic. Renata seemed to materialize in its vision before it could even realize what had happened-- her daggers plunged deep into its throat well before it could swing out.

Renata spent hours dressing the corpse and placing the choicest meats inside of a bag. The skin was folded and tied in a bundle on her back. Its tusks now adorned her belt, while the bones and leftover meat were left in the den for wild animals to use. Night had fallen, which is why it was curious that a light bright enough to fill the cave suddenly appeared. Renata looked up to see  _ her _ . 

Even then, Nylea wore her leaf crown and simple gown. She was not about high, pompous fashion or decoration of any sort. Gods hardly needed clothes in any real sense, but Nylea’s style served as a lesson for her hunters. Wear only what you _need_ , be _sensible_. Everything about Nylea was sensible, and Renata loved that.

“You hunt well.”

Nylea’s voice washed over Renata like leaves rustling around her in fall. Soft, gentle, yet so alluring that Renata couldn’t help but focus completely on it.

“Thank you, Delighter in Arrows, O Keen-Eyed Nylea.”

Nylea strode towards Renata. Each step was that of a predator’s-- intentful and quick, but it did not terrify Renata as it would all others.

“You have hunted for weeks in my territory, little one. I might have seen fit to plague you with mischief and see how well you fight through a horde of my beasts, but there is… something to you which interests me.”

Nylea approached Renata until they stood mere inches from one another. Renata was not a short woman by any means, but the proud gods were never willing to take a mortal form shorter than anyone. The Watcher of Predators gently gripped the mortal’s chin and lifted her head slightly until their eyes locked. Renata saw jungles so thick not even the strongest steel could cut through them and even Purphoros’ forge upturned would not burn through it. She saw snarling packs of wolves with glowing eyes and long rivulets of drool dangling from their maws. She saw stags so gorgeous and majestic it made her want to cry as they bounded gracefully across the world. Arrows flew across the sky within Nylea’s eyes until they crowded out all else.

“Let us hunt together. How long can you withstand me?” Nylea challenged.

Renata blinked and refocused, pulling herself free of the god’s essence. She wanted to cough, spit, or anything mortal to remind herself she was still alive, but she dared not in such a presence. The huntress swallowed tight and stared back.

“Forever,” Renata hissed.

Nylea’s eyes sparked and blazed, and the corner of her mouth turned up.

“So be it.”

***

They hunted together for over a year, never leaving one another’s side save for when Renata slept. Renata struggled in the first week to keep up the pace, but she managed. Her legs burned, her eyes watered, her lungs ached, but she reforged herself to be more like the goddess. In the early weeks, Nylea took all the kills. But once, when the goddess seemed distracted by a distant sunset, Renata took a rabbit for a trophy. In all her time, she never forgot the look of surprise on the goddess’ face.

Things changed after the rabbit. Nylea took a more backseat approach-- she sometimes let Renata do all the tracking while she patiently watched. Other times, she would find the beast and let Renata take the kill. They worked together, and occasionally, very occasionally, Renata would do something that caught Nylea offguard. A type of trap she had not yet encountered, a maneuver she hadn’t anticipated. They worked together in their hunts, and Renata more fervently pursued her goddess.

And it was the _goddess_ , not the monsters, she pursued. Sure, they wove nets to trip up catoblepas or spent harrowing minutes raining arrows down on vicious chimera, but it was Nylea that Renata found herself irrevocably drawn to. Much like following tracks led to her quarry, hunting monsters led her to the goddess.

It happened quickly, on the day they found the hydra…

***

“We need the heart of a hydra,” Nylea told her, “A distant priestess of mine seeks to protect her village from incoming raiders. Can you withstand this task?”

Renata nodded, not genuinely self-assured but not willing to back down either. The hunt could not end on those terms.

Hydras were rare then-- they would emerge from time to time, but it was a slow process. Long after the hunt, Nylea would confess that a calamity had reduced the hydra’s numbers, but no pressing would convince her to elaborate. But all the same, Renata had only hunted hydra once prior, and it had been with an entire legion at her back. Only half the legion walked away from the hunt.

Renata might have prayed to avoid such a similar fate, but who to? Her god stood beside her, with great constellations streaking through her wild, frenzied hair. The five-headed hydra stomped through a marshy area and spewed wretched poison as it went. The foul beast did not notice Nylea shift through the air until it was too late. The Silver-Armed Goddess was so known not for literal coloration but rather for how, when she chose to use them, her blades seemed to be extensions of herself.

Two of the hydra’s heads fell to the marsh and began to bubble, and its other heads screamed. They blasted poison at Nylea, who jumped back and out of the way. The necks pulsated and bubbled and Renata gulped as the necks burst into two new heads each. The nine-headed hydra advanced towards the god. Renata racked her brain-- the legion had injured the body in order to kill it. Nylea leaped to the top of a rotting, falling tree and glanced at her mortal aide.

“Is this something you can accomplish?” Nylea asked, “Or need I find another, more suitable mortal?”

Renata gritted her teeth.

“Don’t cut off another head-- just give me a minute. Keep it distracted.”

Nylea’s eyes peered out from under the leaf crown. No mortal had ever dared given her direction, but no mortal had ever caught her offguard like this one… She glanced back towards the hydra and leaped over its nine heads, striking nine eyes with arrows in a clean arc. Nine howls of pain as streaks of poisonous blood dribbled on the marsh and further toxified it.

Meanwhile, Renata pulled out a vial of Oxblood. This one had been blessed by Purphoros, and that blessing still churned within the blood. Renata pulled it out and placed a touch of it on her arrow. She whispered words and the Oxblood reacted. She treated eight more arrows in the same way.

The half-blind hydra charged after the dancing Nylea, and it was soon fully blinded and completely furious. It lashed out almost entirely at random, though Nylea noticed its strikes came perilously close. The monster still had smell, of course. The green goddess glanced at her mortal and, even from a distance, Renata could see the arched eyebrow. She raised a finger to her throat and dragged it across. Nylea twirled her twin blades and flashed across the marsh. Like lightning she blitzed, and nine heads fell to the marsh.

Renata held her breath and let the arrow fly. The Oxblood reacted on impact and the magic worked-- it engulfed the severed neck in gouts of horrid flame. Eight more flew in seconds and all its necks were cauterized, unable to regenerate. Nylea tapped down into the marshes and stared at the mortal.

“Even I have trouble cracking off nine shots under such strain,” Nylea said, “You are truly gifted among mortals.”

“Careful, O Dancer of the Forest,” Renata said graciously, “The hydra’s poison… we must clear it from this marsh lest other animals suffer it.”

Nylea’s eyes widened, and her constellations shimmered in the darkened marsh. This mortal had committed an act so unique and incredible as nine Oxblood-addled arrow shots and was already switching to cleansing the area. Taking care of life so quickly after inflicting death. Nylea watched Renata closely. Her aura thrummed.

The woman already had a vial of manticore’s blood. Pharika had not yet crested Nyx’s horizons, but Theros had the barest understanding of poison and antidote, and how one could become the other. It took strong magic, but Renata converted the manticore’s blood into something that could cleanse the area. The huntress dropped her vial and the magic slowly washed over the area. Nylea watched the glowing constellations spin over the marsh and gleam in the twilight. Nylea approached Renata and placed her hand beneath the mortal’s chin. She said nothing, never needed to. She was practical.

They crashed against each other, all frenzy and fury and instinct. Nylea had no physical form, but she knew how to fulfill Renata’s physical needs. Renata’s exultations filled Nylea in a way she had never known before, and the goddess felt as if she were being born anew.

***

A somewhat tousled Nylea and Renata presented the hydra’s heart to the priestess, who glorified Nylea’s name and insisted on a feast. It was loud and frenzied and full of good foods. Renata took some glory in recounting the hunt of the hydra, through her tryst with the God of the Hunt was unmentioned. It was sacred in a way that Renata could never describe, a secret to be kept for all time.

They journeyed together for years, decades. Oh, Nylea would received prayers from all over and disperse for a time, but more often was the case that Renata came along. Some whispered that Renata herself was a goddess blooming, but the mortal shut those down. Those were not her terms.

Still, though, time ravages all which is mortal. Nylea pleaded with Renata to become like her, to accept Theros’ blessings until she could crawl up to godhood, but the mortal was stubborn.

“I will end all things on my own terms.”

It came to pass that her body began to betray her. She could not run as fast as she used to. Her back pained her. Her wrists cramped. Simple tasks began to strain her. Renata called for Nylea and gazed up into the night sky. The Keen-Eyed took her beloved into her arms and held her tight.

“I will not become a god, beholden to these people,” Renata said quietly, “But I am beholden to you. Always to you. And I… I made a promise, did I not? To withstand you forever.”

Nylea nodded, and the two dispersed into glittering, green motes of light which fluttered together up into Nyx. The stars shifted, and a new constellation was born.

From then on, when Nylea tired of the hunt, she would enter the sky and rest with her beloved.

And centuries later, when foolish Heliod set his plans into motion in the form of the first Demigod in living mortal memory, there was only one mortal whom Nylea could trust to carry out her hunt.

When Nyxborn Renata dropped from the skies, Nylea felt as if she might cry, but such displays were beneath her. Still, Renata gently placed a finger beneath her eye, as if she knew what almost was.

“The hunt is on, then?” Renata asked.

“Forever,” Nylea said.

“So be it.”


End file.
